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Runaway Bride
Runaway Bride is a 1999 romance novel set in Arkansas written by Marilyn Shank and published by Avalon Books of New York, a renowned publisher of genre fiction that operated from 1950 to 2012.
The book opens with Hannah Hastings, on the day of her wedding, realizing that her fiancé, Paul Arnold, “is a control freak, like her father.” She calls off the impending marriage and flees Kansas City, Missouri, driving south on U.S. Highway 71 and eventually crossing into Arkansas, where she stops in at Willa Mae’s Diner. Willa Mae directs the broke Hannah to seek out a job as activities director at Camp Wildwood, a camp for inner-city youth in the Ozark Mountains. The camp director, Jacob Reynolds, who works as a divorce attorney, hires her after she bluffs her credentials as an outdoorsy person.
Hannah does not impress on her first outing with the children, failing to recognize, for example, the poison ivy gathered by Jacob’s son, Aaron. However, as they work together, Jacob finds himself attracted to Hannah and even kisses her, but he always calls to mind his ex-wife, Rachel, and his determination never to marry again. Moreover, he finds himself troubled by Aaron’s growing bond with Hannah, fearing that Aaron will be hurt again by a mother figure leaving his life.
Although she has a disastrous experience attempting to fill in as cook for one day, Hannah starts to adapt to camp life and succeeds in teaching the children the basics of square dancing. But she finds Jacob’s emphasis upon the authority of camp staff off-putting, reminding her of Paul, while he begins to recognize that she has a genuine rapport with the kids. After they take an injured girl to the local hospital, they stop at Willa Mae’s for lunch, where Jacob confesses to Hannah, “You’ve made me realize how much I miss having someone special in my life.”
Hannah realizes that she has feelings for Jacob, but after his controlling behavior on the camp’s “parents’ day” determines to leave that evening. She leaves a note for Jacob and starts driving back to Kansas City but stops in one last time at Willa Mae’s, telling the proprietor that any relationship with Jacob “doesn’t fit in with my plans to be an independent woman.” However, Willa Mae tells her, “Don’t cheat yourself out of happiness by not facing problems while they can still be solved.” Nonetheless, Hannah heads for Kansas City, and Jacob, finding her note, sets out after her. He finds her changing a flat tire along U.S. 71 and apologizes to her. They confess their love for each other, and he proposes to her, saying, “I’d like to join the successful half of the married population.”
For additional information:
Shank, Marilyn. Runaway Bride. New York: Avalon Books, 1999.
Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas
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